2008 Punk Bike Enduro

As soon as my caravan of cycling pilgrims rolled up late to the Promised Land of the Dorseyville Fire Hall on Sunday, I knew that it was a record turnout for the Punk Bike Enduro. A multi-colored mass of bicycles, punks, weird costumes and the vehicles that brought them here spread throughout the neighborhood, as Iâ€™ve never seen it before.

This, the 19th annual Punk Bike Enduro indeed proved to be the largest yet. More than 220 people showed up to race, ride, shuffle and drift through the muddy trails. The rain kept away this year, and the temperature was bearable. A thin coating of snow remained from a small storm late in the week, and it quickly turned the trails into a fun and dirty stripe of slippery earth after the first few dozen bikes passed along. Nothing these punks couldnâ€™t handle and enjoy, though.

The party rolled out slightly later than normal due to the large number of people needing to be corralled. Yet we still had plenty of daylight to complete all 11 stages, including the double-length Up/Down stage. We weaved in and out of these trails, outside Pittsburgh for the better part of six hours. Beer stops were had, and hidden laminated Punks were collected.

The spirit of the Punk Bike Enduro has always moved many people to break into the Halloween storage box, or local costume store, to cobble together some sort of odd costume. That spirit was taken to the next level this year as Reverend Michael Browne, former Dirt Rag word-boss and current Trek Kool-Aid mixer, returned to town and offered up a flashy new Trek 69er as grand prize for best costume. This really proved to be a catalyst for people to get their weird on.

The dress ranged from the truly original â€œGirl Riding a Horseâ€ to the borderline-offensive â€œLawn Jockeyâ€ and from the â€œKiss Duoâ€ to the guy wearing an authentic pair of leather lederhosenâ€¦without underwear, according to him. I took his word for that one.

Thanks to everyone who did trail maintenance in the weeks before the event, the people who marshaled the course, those that kept score, the patient people who tallied the score, the companies and people who provided loot for the swag table, those who traveled from near and afar, beer, the Dorseyville Fire Hall and you.